I
Dorian

About:

Dorian was formed in 2002 by Marc Gili, Belly Hernández and Bart Sanz in Barcelona. At the time the music scene in the city was heavily influenced by electronic pop culture with music festivals such as “Sónar”, “BAM” and “Primavera Sound”. They wanted to create a sound that combined Spanish pop tradition with contemporary electronic music. In 2003 they won first prize at Festival Zorrock which landed them as support act for Los Planetas and Sexy Sadie. A year later they released their debut album ‘10.000 Metrópolis’ on the small Bip Bip / K Industria label. In 2005 they underlined their liaison with the local club culture by re-releasing the album with remixes by DJ Undo (Razzmatazz / The Loft), Ferenc (Nitsa - Apollo), and Dj CoCo (Nitsa - Apollo). In 2006 they sign to PIAS Spain and release ‘El futuro no es de nadie’ (The future does not belong to anyone) which makes a turn to more composed indie electronic melodies and dark-poetic lyrics. It marks a break to a broader audience and a tour through Spain, Portugal and the United States. The succes is secured with their third album ‘La ciudad subterránea’. The album is accompanied by a trilogy of video clips which tells the story of love between two young people as a beginning, middle and end.

A joint tour with Love of Lesbian takes them around Spain in 2010. In 2012 they move to Mexico to start recording on ‘La velocidad del vacío’ with producer Phil Vinall (known from Radiohead and Placebo). The album is their most balanced to date

On the web:

- Dorian's website: http://www.webdorian.com/

If you like this, you probably like... / european counterparts:

Bluvertigo (Italy)

What do we think:

DB: The spanish electropop/rock scene is booming at the start of the new age and Dorian are one of the leading acts. One of the many Dorians in Europe that is (there is also a Dorian in Turkey, Hungary and Croatia). So Googling them can be somewhat complicated. Their mix of an Eighties electronic sound combined with Spanish influences and Eurorock is tasty and catchy. I heard of them for the first time by a Midem sampler in 2006 (probably a track from ‘El futuro no es de nadie’) but the album wasn’t easy to find. I guess that’s the downside of signing to an indie-label and having a bandname that is rather common. But the past years the band has grown in popularity. And so they should. This is genuine alternative europopmusic with a low threshold. I can’t see why this act hasn’t made the step crossborder and showed up at festivals in the North of Europe.

Recommended albums:

- 10.000 metrópolis (2004)

♪♪♪ - El futuro no es de nadie (2006)

♪♪♪ - La ciudad subterránea (2009)

♪♪♪♪ - La velocidad del vacío (2013)

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♪♪♪♪♪= outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided